The Sunbreaker
by Glamdring804
Summary: A company of mercenary Titans has been spotted on Venus. Captain Linvana is sent to investigate. This is the first and only story I've written that's based on events directly in-game. Adapting a mission was good practice, plus, it's an important character moment for one of my Guardians.
1. Part 1

"Shaxx, you wished to speak to me?"

"Yes Zavala. I find myself in need of your advice regarding a certain Titan," the Crucible handler replied.

Zavala sighed, thumbing with the stack of scout reports in his hand. "Shaxx, if this is about Lord Saladin again, I already told you-"

"No, this is about a different Titan. Something came up in a match the other day…well, it would probably be easier to show you."

The Titan Vanguard hesitated. There really wasn't a worse time. A moon-sized invasion ship captained by a Hive god was in orbit around Saturn. The majority of the Awoken fleet, including the Queen and her brother, missing and presumed dead. Multiple reports of a twisted new enemy, infused with Darkness, tearing across the system. Even the _Cabal_ were in retreat. Everything had gone to hell in the last twenty-four hours, and Zavala did not have time to deal with a single Guardian's personal issues in the arena.

Yet, if Shaxx had reached out to him, the Crucible handler clearly felt it warranted his attention.

"Very well," Zavala said, "I have a meeting with Cayde and Ikora in five minutes. Make it quick."

"Of course," Shaxx replied. He stepped over to his table and brought up a recording of a Crucible match. The scene was much like any battle in the arena. Several Guardians furiously vied for possession of a control point. Ammunition and flashes of Light were thick in the air, nearly enough to obscure the combatants.

As Zavala watched, a Titan off to the side of the battle lowered her rifle and took a step back. She started running and leapt through the air on a pulse of Light. It was a move Zavala had seen a hundred times over. At the crest of her jump, she would draw her fists apart to summon a charge of Arc energy. She would pause for the briefest of moments, then launch herself into the opposing Fireteam and decimate them with a blast of Arc energy. It was a textbook execution of a Fist of Havoc.

Except in the recording, nothing happened.

The guardian reached the top of her jump and drew back her fist, but no thunderstorm came. The lightning popped once and vanished. She dropped to the ground, visibly confused. Too late, she realized she was now standing in the open, with the nearest cover twenty feet behind her. The fusion bolts struck her square in the chest and tore her body apart.

The recording ended.

"…What the hell was that? Her form and positioning were perfect! Why didn't her fist connect?" Zavala asked, bewildered.

"That's a question I would very much like to answer," Shaxx replied, "I spoke with her after the match. Apparently, this is the third time something like this has happened, all within the past two months. It took some prying, but eventually she said something very fascinating; 'The Arc just doesn't trust me.'"

"That's…odd," Zavala said. "Each guardian is born with a spark of Light. It's part of their very existence. Why would she think her Light doesn't trust her?" Zavala frowned and leaned in to get a better look at the grainy image. "I recognize that armor…" Gold and yellow, with a strip of fur around the collar. "Is that…Captain Linvana?"

"It is indeed."

"Linvana…the Titan that killed Riksis _and_ Sepiks Prime? The commander of the fireteam that destroyed Crota?"

Shaxx nodded gravely.

"She is by all means an outstanding Titan, perhaps the best I've ever seen," Zavala said, perplexed, "She's accomplished incredible feats most Guardians only dream of. Why would she be having insecurities about her abilities?" Zavala asked.

"Like I said, I don't know. I spoke with the Warlocks about the matter. The best theory Ikora could come up with was that Linvana might not be 'properly attuned to the resonant properties of her Arc source.' Apparently she's seen something like this once or twice before, and the best solution is to have her use a different element."

"A different element? Then train her as a Defender."

Shaxx nodded. "That was my first thought as well. As it turns out, she tried switching to Defender a month after she came to the Tower. She couldn't complete the process. Touching the Void traumatized her somehow, and now she refuses to try again. That's actually why I want your help. I'm hoping you can speak to her and convince her to try again."

"Why me?" Zavala asked, "Have you not tried speaking with her yourself?

The Crucible handler chuckled. "Not sure you've noticed, Zavala, but most Titans respect you a lot more than they do me. You're their commander, their role-model. They look up to you. Me, well, I'm just the guy who yells at them in the Crucible. If I tried convincing her to train as a Defender, she would shut down like a Shrieker in its shell."

Zavala cocked his head. Coming from Shaxx, those words were high praise, though that was beside the point. "That may be true, Captain Linvana is a very resolute woman. Soft-spoken, yes, but staunchly determined, and very private about her personal life. If she perceives we are pushing her towards something, she might react against it. I'll speak to her, but don't count on me being able to convince her either…"

The Vanguard Commander trailed off as the kernel of an idea settled in the back of his mind. He thumbed through the stack of scout reports, until he came to a reconnaissance alert from Venus. Cayde's scout described a sight Zavala thought he would never hear of again: A squad of Titans, glowing with golden Solar Light, annihilating Fallen and Vex with flaming hammers.

"Actually Shaxx, I think I might just have a better solution."

* * *

Linvana hurried out of her quarters, auto-rifle slung across her back and sidearm holstered on her hip. The hallway outside was bustling with activity, Guardians rushing to collect their own equipment and receive their assignments. Linvana paused as she scanned for a familiar face.

There! Telysa was at the far end of the corridor, moving in the direction of the lifts. Linvana pushed past another pair of Guardians and began jogging down the hallway.

"Hey," Linvana said as she caught up with the Awoken Hunter.

"Hey," Telysa replied with her sharp British accent.

"Do you have any idea what the hell's going on?" Linvana asked.

Telysa shook her head. "Not much. Remember that Cabal signal? The one Zavala thought was the broadcast to mobilize an invasion? Well apparently it was actually a distress signal. Their encampment on Phobos was destroyed. Well over fifty percent casualties."

Linvana frowned. "They lost half their numbers? Someone would have to be either incredibly insane or incredibly arrogant to attack an entrenched Cabal legion, but to actually pull it off and win? They'd need enough firepower to punch a hole in the Moon!"

"You're telling me." Telysa shrugged as they rounded a corner. "If you want to know more, talk to Damien. Apparently he was on Mars when the signal came in. The Vanguard sent him to investigate. Things went to hell very quickly, and he won't give me any details."

Linvana filed that information away for later. She would need to talk to him when she got the fireteam together. "Whatever he found there must have Zavala freaked. Calling every Guardian in the system back to the Tower…"

"Well…" Telysa glanced down the corridor to make sure no one was in earshot, then pulled Linvana to the side.

"There's a rumor going around," she whispered, "Whatever happened on Phobos is part of something much bigger. Something huge entered the system yesterday. A Hive ship, the size of a small moon. The Awoken tried attacking the ship, and they were completely wiped out in the process."

"Traveler above…" Linvana breathed.

The silence was broken by the blare of Commander Zavala's voice over PA. "Captain Linvana, report to Vanguard Command."

"Well, that's me," Linvana said.

"Right," Telysa replied as they rounded a bend and arrived in front of the lifts. Several Guardians were already milling about the receptacle. "I'll come with. I need Banshee to take a look at my gun."

A squad of Titans exited the lift nearest the two Guardians. Linvana and Telysa slipped inside and set the floor for the Tower plaza.

"So I heard something happened in the Crucible yesterday," Telysa said as the doors slid shut and the lift whirred into motion.

Linvana groaned and bowed her head against her chest. "That got out?"

"Lin, you whiffed a Fist of Havoc in front of half a dozen Guardians. Did you expect they'd all just forget about it?"

"Um, kinda?" Linvana sighed. "Look, I'm just having some issues with my form. I've got it covered." She didn't tell Telysa about the other thing, the growing sense of unease she had whenever she used her abilities. The unshakable impression that the ebb and flow of the Arc was pushing her away. She couldn't tell _anyone_ about that, not even her girlfriend.

The lift slowed to a stop and opened to reveal the Tower Plaza, filled with dozens of Guardians recently returned from patrol. A storm was blowing through the City, though this close to the Traveler, the rain was reduced to a thick drizzle.

"Crap," Linvana realized as they stepped out of the lift, "I guess all this means date night is canceled."

"You'll just have to make it up to me next week," Telysa called over her shoulder with a smile.

Linvana watched the Hunter jog over to the gunsmith with a pang of sadness. If her rumors were even remotely true, it would probably be more than a week before they had time for a date.

The Titan dragged herself from her musings and dashed down the main stairs at the back of the plaza. The low reception hall at the base was surprisingly empty. Lord Shaxx was talking to the Crucible Quartermaster in the corner, and Eris's post at the landing was vacant. Interesting.

The larger chamber beyond made up for the lack of activity in the atrium. At least two-dozen people, a mix of Warlock specialists and Hunter scouts, were crowded around the Vanguard table in the center. Ikora was speaking and gesturing at a projection of Saturn's rings, which bore a circular hole punched through them. Zavala watched stoically from the far side of group, while Cayde was nowhere to be seen. Cayde and Eris both gone? Eh, they probably wanted to get away from the crowd.

Zavala glanced up and noticed Linvana standing in the doorway. He motioned for her to approach. Linvana made her way around the congregation. "…We can assume the disturbance marks the outer range of the weapon. However, we don't know what other capabilities the ship has, so stay out of sight, and there _are_ other ships in the vicinity. Approach from the far side of the planet, and use the rings as cover…"

"I apologize for my tardiness," Linvana whispered to Zavala as she stepped up next to the Commander.

"No need to apologize, Captain, this is a scout briefing. I have a different mission for you," Zavala replied in a hushed tone.

Zavala didn't elaborate, and fell silent as Ikora finished the briefing. She dismissed the scouts, and they filed out of the hall, many of them telling Ghosts to ready their jumpships. The Warlock Vanguard herself followed a few moments later, paging through a thick tome and conversing with her Ghost.

"So tell me Captain, what do you know of our present situation?" Zavala asked once the two Titans were alone.

"Not much sir," Linvana replied, "Word is something bad entered the system and parked itself next to Saturn."

Zavala nodded. "As you can see, an alien ship is indeed orbiting Saturn as we speak. It's a Hive Dreadnaught, several hundred kilometers across. It came into our neighborhood surrounded by an armada, which was devastated in the same blast that annihilated the Awoken fleet that tried to assualt it. And that's only the beginning of it." Zavala retrieved a tablet from the table and walked over to the windows on the far side of the hall. Linvana trailed after him

"All across the system, our scouts are giving us reports of a new enemy. Strange, twisted forms, visibly infused with Darkness, and incredibly powerful. They're enemies we've already seen, Cabal, Vex, Fallen, Hive, but consumed and possessed by…something."

Linvana stepped up next to Zavala and surveyed they sweeping alpine valley below the Tower. The misty gray landscape looked ominous today. Probably just her nerves.

"Eris Morn said she had heard of these twisted abominations during her time in the Hellmouth," Zavala continued, "They are Taken, slaves to the will of the Oryx, who commands the Dreadnaught, and is the God-King of the entire Hive swarm."

"Oryx…I've heard that name before," Linvana said.

"Indeed. We destroyed a shrine dedicated to him on the Moon a few months back," Zavala replied.

"So this Hive god-king is invading our solar system because we trashed one of his temples?"

Zavala chuckled. "Oh it's much worse than that. Oryx is here to exact revenge on the Guardians who killed his son, Crota."

Linvana felt the color drain from her face. "Crota? Oh Hell Below, _I_ killed Crota. He's here for me!"

"That would appear to be the case," Zavala said quietly.

"Is that what this is about sir? You want me to finish what I started." Linvana swallowed her anxiousness and steeled herself. "I can have my Fireteam ready within the hour. We killed one Hive god, we can do it again."

Zavala grimaced. "While I appreciate your resolve, Captain, Oryx is factors of magnitude more powerful than his son. The weapon that destroyed the Awoken is still active. We have no way of even getting _close_ to that ship, let alone boarding it and finding Oryx. Once we find a way to get Guardians onboard, I will notify you immediately. Until then, we have to wait, and counter Oryx wherever we can. The plan is to take the war to him across the entire system. And to do that, the City needs every possible weapon available to it."

"…Sir? What are you getting at?"

Zavala turned to Linvana and handed her the report. Linvana skimmed it, eyes widening as she did. It detailed a sighting of a group of Titans wielding…Solar energy? Burning enemies away with flaming hammers?

"The City has need of you, Guardian," Zavala said as she finished reading. He lowered his eyes, a hint of sadness flickering across his face. "Not only that, _I_ have need of you. A mercenary company of Titans, the Sunbreakers, was spotted on Venus a short time ago. This is the first I've heard anything from them in years. They were an ancient order of Titans, bearers of the magnificent Hammer of Sol—unstoppable, vigilant. They left the City, and now wander the wilderness of the Solar System. They had completely vanished, until today. I want _you_ to make contact."

"This is incredible sir, a Titan order I've never heard of before, using an element that's supposed to be unobtainable by Titans," Linvana said as she digested the information, "But you just told me we are at total war with the Traveler-forsaken _Hive King_. Is this really a priority right now?"

Zavala sighed and turned away from the window. "I was like you once very much like yourself, Captain. Bright and eager, yet also brash, headstrong, and reckless. I was a different person back then…"

"Sir?"

"I've made mistakes, Captain. Mistakes I lack the capacity to fix. I am placing a heavy burden on your shoulders by asking this; I want you to make amends with the Sunbreakers. We need them if we are to win this fight. Tell them they are welcome back in the city. Tell them it's time their fire came home."

* * *

Shaxx watched as Linvana crossed the vestibule and climbed the stairs to the Tower plaza.

She was quite something, that one. He still remembered the day she came to the Tower, flying in a ship that just about fell apart as it landed. She barely even knew how to hold a gun!

Every defeat was a lesson in combat, and in those first months, she had learned _many_ lessons in the Crucible. She wasn't just inexperienced, she was outright terrible!

That was only the beginning though. When she left an arena after a match, she didn't walk with her shoulders bowed and her posture slumped. She held her head high, her back straight, staunch determination burning quietly in her eyes.

Slowly, deliberately, she began to improve. Her team lost by smaller and smaller margins. Where once she had been trodden on, the opponent had to work hard to eek out a victory. Matches often started a complete blowout, then Linvana and her team caught up as the learned their opponents' tactics and adapted. The improvement was small, imperceptible even. It had taken Shaxx weeks to notice.

Then, she started winning.

The first time, it was by a gap of only three points. She lost her next three after that, then won two. Slowly but surely, her win ratio crept in to the black. Her victories were rarely spectacular blowouts. She rarely went on ridiculous kill streaks or got flashy multi-kills. Her strategy remained the same: start on the defensive, let the opponent get overconfident while she learned their tactics, the push back and overtake them in the last minutes of the match.

Today, her win-rate was nearly eighty percent. Among the best of _any_ Guardian. He could put her on a team of five day-olds, and match her against a full team of acclaimed champions, and she would likely manage to carve out a win. Lessons learned indeed.

Her current trials would be a completely different beast though. He had a hunch that they would either make or break her. If she found a way to stabilize her Light, she might become one of the greatest Titans of all time. If she did not…well, she wouldn't be the first Guardian to leave the Tower.

Shaxx waited until Linvana was gone, then entered the Hall of Guardians. Zavala stood at his usual post, preparing his announcement of the arrival of Oryx and the Dreadnaught.

"Do you think it will work?" Shaxx asked.

"The Sunbreakers?" Zavala said, "I hope so. She believes I'm sending her on a mission to make an alliance. She doesn't understand they will never return to the City, not while I'm on the Vanguard. For her own sake, I hope they will let her take up the hammer. We will need all our Guardians at peak performance in this coming war."

Shaxx shook his head. "She's always been different, that one. I've watched her fight. She doesn't rush forward like a Striker should, and she doesn't have the quiet resolve of a Defender either. She likes to simmer and bide her time, then blow her enemies away when they don't see it coming. The Solar Light will suit her."

"The fire burns within her," Zavala replied, "A fire I have not seen in many years. She needs to ignite it before it is permanently snuffed out.

* * *

Venus materialized around Linvana.

She stood in a narrow, overgrown courtyard. A thick drizzle of the seemingly constant Venusian rain pattered down through the trees, obscuring the rusting metal buildings in the distance, and casting a twilight pall over the abandoned campus. She could almost feel the muggy humidity straining her armor's climate controls. The Ishtar Academy, once the heart of knowledge and learning in the system. Now just another crumbling monument of the Collapse.

Linvana shook the lingering pins and needles of the transmat out of her limbs, and started walking. Flashes of light crackled back and forth across the far end of the courtyard. She couldn't see much from through the undergrowth, but it seemed she had stumbled across a battle in progress.

"Where do I need to go?" Linvana asked.

"The Sunbreakers were last seen moving towards the Nexus," Zavala said over the coms, "For whatever reason they are seeking that location, they won't stay in one place for very long."

"From our current location, the Nexus is that way," Linvana's Ghost added. A marker appeared on her helmet's visor, displaying a path across the courtyard and straight through the skirmish on the far end.

"Wonderful," Linvana muttered.

"Shouldn't you be excited?" the Ghost chirped in his infallibly bubbly voice. "I thought you liked punching things."

"A fight will only slow us down," Linvana replied. She slung her auto-rifle into her hands, chambered a round, and started jogging across the courtyard.

As she moved through the trees, she got a better view of the battle. A Fallen skiff had crash-landed in the courtyard, tearing a gash through the trees and ground in the process. The crew of the small craft were scattered in a loose perimeter around it. They exchanged shots with a squad of Vex goblins advancing from the far entrance to the courtyard.

"Let me guess. The sighting was in that building the Vex came from," Linvana said.

"Uh, yes," Ghost replied, "because why wouldn't our destination be on the other side of a bunch of bad guys?"

Linvana rolled her eyes and cut right. She slipped around a line of trees, then ducked behind the rusted railing that ran around the courtyard perimeter. With the cover, she managed circle around the fighting aliens completely undetected.

The terrace in front of the doorway was completely open, with only a low stone divider to provide any concealment. The Vex had pushed deep into the courtyard, and only a pair of Hobgoblin snipers remained on the platform. They were both intently focused on the battle.

Linvana counted to three, then leapt over the railing and softly crossed the open ground. The Hobgoblins remained oblivious. She reached the door and slipped into the hallway behind.

Ha. Hunters weren't the only ones who could be all quiet and stealthy.

A shrill metallic shriek rang out behind her.

 _Crap._

Linvana spun and opened fire. Her weapon bucked violently at first, then settled down as the resonant mechanisms kicked into action. Her volley cut one Hobgoblin in half, but the second one locked down before she could destroy it. The bronze robot folded in on itself and lit up with internal heat. The searing temperatures melted her bullets before they reached it.

Behind the Hobgoblin, the rest of the Vex turned to face their new enemy. It was an open secret that all four alien races invading the Solar System considered killing Guardians their top priority.

Linvana raised her hand and drew upon the Light, willing it to take the shape of a grenade.

The Light didn't come.

Linvana cursed and shook her hand. Nothing. _Come on, not now…._

The Vex opened fire. Bolts of orange plasma streaked down the hallway, charring the ground and sizzling off her armor. The Hobgoblin unfolded and raised its rifle as its allies arrived. The weapon began to glow angry red.

The Light finally came. Electricity surged down Linvana's arm, like a burst dam. She reached up and punched the ceiling. The bolt of Arc shattered the dilapidated concrete. Linvana scrambled back as the doorway collapsed and filled up the corridor. The debris settled, and the muffled sounds of battle resumed on the other side.

Linvana sighed and dusted herself off. So much for not wasting time.

* * *

The interior of the building was dark, gloomy, and rotting. Piles of dirt and decomposing plants moldered in corners, and tangles of vines hung forlornly from the ceiling. The walls had collapsed in some places. Harsh white lights cut through the dimness in some places, an odd juxtaposition to the general rundown state of the facility. The engineers that built the research station designed it to survive an apocalypse, and in the end, it had.

"We want to go that way," Ghost said through her earpiece. A marker appeared on her visor. Linvana followed it across the room, taking care to avoid the piles of muck. The last one she stepped in had a skeleton buried in it.

She continued to traverse the darkened hallways, using Ghost's marker as a guide. Eventually, she emerged into a cavernous storage facility. Several corroding tanks sat along the left side, and a blocky control center occupied the right corner. The grassy ground was flooded with rain pouring through the several holes in the roof.

"You're in the area where the Sunbreakers were last seen," Zavala said, "See if you can find any evidence as to what they were doing there."

"Well," Ghost said, "I'm detecting a beacon that's using Guardian channels…it's interlaced with Vex feedback."

"Where?" Linvana asked.

"Far corner," Ghost replied.

Linvana crossed the marshy ground. The beacon had been planted in the ground beside a moss-covered crate. A red light blinked on the top of the bronze metal rod. Ghost appeared at her shoulder and flew over to the device. He scanned it with a beam of blue light.

"Let's see what we have here," the floating orb muttered, "Ah, a transmission!"

"Fall back, fall back!" a woman's voice frantically shouted, "Should've known Osiris-" The next words were drowned out by static. "Protect the forge once they're in! You remember-"

The recording cut out entirely and ended with a harsh crackle.

"Osiris?" Zavala said, his voice suddenly taut, "Find out where they've gone, Guardian. If he's still in contact with them…never mind that. Find them. The Nexus is west of your current location. Get there before they go dark again."

Linvana looked up. The only exit on the west side of the courtyard was a door on the walkway twenty feet up.

There was a staircase further in the corner. Linvana jogged up and crossed to the door. The sliding steel panels were sealed. She worked her fingers into the seam and pulled. With a groan, the doors slid open.

And revealed a room full of Vex.

Linvana cursed and yanked out her sidearm. The Vex locked on to her immediately, and she and the robots opened fire at the same time. She hit three in the juicebox. They each went down in sprays of milky fluid.

A hail of plasma bolts slammed into her with physical force. They left blackened scorch marks on the plasteel plate, but the armor held. Linvana emptied the rest of her magazine. Bullets ricocheted off of the Vex's armored casings.

A second, much more coordinated volley of fire forced her back through the door. She reloaded her sidearm, holstered it, and pulled her auto-rifle off her back. She needed something to distract the Vex, give her an opening. A flashbang grenade would do the job.

No, no grenades, not after what happened earlier. She'd just do this the old-fashioned way.

Linvana stepped back from the doorway to give herself room. She flexed her legs and charged.

She rammed her shoulder into the goblin nearest the door. Her momentum knocked the robot into the wall and crushed it flat. Linvana brought up her auto rifle and tore three more Vex apart with a spray of bullets. She dodged left and took off another goblin's head with an uppercut. She grabbed its sparking metal frame by the arms and hurled it towards the remaining enemies. The unusual tactic caught them off guard. Linvana seized the opening and brought two more of them down as the headless body crashed into one of its comrades. That left eight Vex standing.

The robots realized they were outmatched and started to retreat. They laid down suppressing fire to force her behind cover.

She did the opposite and ran straight at them. Just before she reached the first one, she jumped and pushed herself forward with a surge of Light through her legs. The lift carried her straight into their midst. She laid about with her fists and smashed three of them to pieces. Her sidearm appeared in her hand and took down a fourth. The remaining four tasted her auto-rifle, and didn't get back up.

Linvana lowered her weapon and leaned against a wall. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her breathing was strained, though months upon months of physical training meant she was far from being winded. _At least my lift still works_ , she conceded.

She glanced down at her armor. The red and yellow plate was in terrible condition. Almost every piece was covered in burns and score marks, and her right pauldron was cracked from when she rammed the goblin.

"Ghost, can you do something about this?" Linvana asked.

"Um, yeah, give me a second."

Flashes of white appeared in the crack and burn marks. The light solidified and filled in the gaps, and within a few moments, the armor was completely repaired, though the soot from the burns remained.

"Status, Guardian?" Zavala demanded.

"Sorry sir," Linvana replied, raising her hand to her earpiece, "Just cleaning up some Vex stragglers."

"That's all very well, Captain, but you need to keep moving. We're running out of time. Don't let yourself get distracted again."

"I'll try not to sir. Ghost, where are we going?"

A marker appeared at the top of stairs at the back of the room. Linvana took steps three at a time.

She wound her way through the darkened building, which was in much the same state as the last one. She burst through a doorway and crossed a flooded, overgrown rooftop, then dove back into the bowels of the complex.

"The entrance to the Nexus is on the other side of this block," Ghost said, "We need to go down."

Linvana found the first signs of battle at the top of the stairs. The walls were covered in scorch marks from Vex weaponry. Bullet shells littered steps.

There was a pair of dead Vex on the landing below. Their metal shells were warped and deformed, like they had been both melted and crushed at the same time.

At the base of the stairs, she found a different type of burn mark. This was a much larger circle of soot, about twelve feet across. There wasn't a pockmark at the center, like those made by the Vex projectiles. Rather, the metal floor had ripples in it, like it had been liquefied. Linvana brushed her fingers across the center. It was still faintly warm.

The remnants of battle continued through the lower floors. Bullet casings and half-melted Vex were scattered across the ground. Scorch marks were everywhere. The walls were crushed and smashed in some places. At the bottom, she entered a lab that had been completely immolated. What had once been tables were now twisted lumps of metal on the floor.

"How much farther?" Linvana asked.

"Just through the next room," Ghost replied, "I'm picking up movement beyond that. Be careful."

The next room turned out to be a disaster zone. Whatever it had previously held was completely destroyed. Smoldering stone and ash littered the shattered floor. Two of the walls were cracked and about to fall over. A doorway on the left side was bent and melted outward. It still glowed at the base. The damage was worst around the front of the room, where Linvana stood. Dozens of broken Vex were piled there, mechanical bodies were melted almost beyond the point of recognition.

"Well," Ghost noted, "I guess now we know what the Sunbreakers are capable of."

Linvana took in the devastation. It told the story of a running battle. The Sunbreakers were on the upper floor when the Vex caught up with them. They fired a few shots and decided to retreat to a more defensible position. The fled down the stairs, killing machines as they went. The Vex pursued them through the building, until they finally came to the last room. They made a stand here, and killed scores of Vex, but were ultimately forced to escape out the door. Then what?

"Ghost," Linvana said, "That movement outside, any chance it's the Sunbreakers?"

"Let me check." He materialized next to her shoulder in a shimmer of light and flew up to the ceiling. His shell split apart and expanded into an eight-pointed sphere, a move that he said increased his computing volume. "That would be a no. They're Vex. _Lots_ of Vex. Twenty-four goblins, six harpies, two hobgoblins, four minotaurs, and - oh lovely - an enormous hydra, right in front of the sizable confluence at the far side of the clearing."

"They're waiting for something," Linvana said, "An ambush for the Sunbreakers?" She crossed to the door and peaked around the corner. Sure enough, an entire squad of Vex stood guard in the rain. They stood stock still, red, cyclopean eyes glowing in the dim light. _Wait a sec…_

Linvana slipped back through the doorway and cursed.

"What's wrong?" Ghost asked as he shrank back down to normal size.

"The Vex. They're all facing _away_ from the Nexus. Which means the Sunbreakers aren't in there. We lost them."

"Guardian," Zavala said, his voice distorted with interference from the storm, "You need to find them. Can you track which way they went?"

"Well, no, not really," Ghost replied, "They could have left through one of the adjacent buildings, or even gone deeper into the Vex's subterranean complex and returned to the surface at a different location. I could probably figure out way to track them, given enough time, but they will have…Wait a minute. That signal earlier - It's loaded with Vex feedback because it's being routed _through_ the conflux!"

"Through the conflux?" Zavala said, "So Ikora was right. He has found a way. Captain, you need to get your Ghost to that conflux and map out the origin of that signal. If the Sunbreakers are capable of hijacking Vex technology, then we might have had this all wrong. The Nexus wasn't their target, it was their escape route. Ghost, is there a transfer gate in your region?"

"Yes actually, there is. Near the conflux."

"Using a transfer gate?" Linvana asked, "What's so special about that?'

"Well, we use them all the time in the Crucible," Ghost said, "But those are existing connections. The fact that the Sunbreakers are routing their communications through the network means they must be manipulating it somehow. That's unprecedented. The best we have been able to do so far with Vex tech is map the basic layout".

"Whatever the Sunbreakers are doing, we need to know how they are doing it," Zavala said, "Guardian, consider that conflux your new objective."

"And I only have to fight my way through three dozen Vex to reach it," Linvana muttered. "Ghost, I need my big gun."

Linvana held out her hands. The air shimmered, and a dark blue heavy machine gun appeared in her hands, summoned form wherever Ghost stored her extra equipment. She checked the ammo drum, loaded the belt into the chamber, and racked the slide.

She peaked back out through the door. The hobgoblins stood on elevated pillars towards the back of the Vex structure; ideal sniping vantages. She would need to take them out first. That would get the attention of the rest of them, and with that many enemies, she would be cut down in seconds.

"Ghost, any chance you can get the door on the other side open?"

"Hm, let me see." The Ghost flew across the room and scanned the door. "I undid the lock, though it's rusted shut. You'll have to punch your way through, which you should enjoy." Ghost returned to her and vanished in a puff of light.

Linvana smiled. Her arms tingled with anticipation. She wasn't the best with talking, and the Traveler knew she was a terrible at making anything with her hands, but fighting, this was something she knew. She raised her gun and stepped through the door.

The goblins noticed her immediately and screamed robotic cries of alarm. Linvana ignored them and aimed at the left hobgoblin. She fired three shots and turned to the second one, then fired three more. The ultra-dense iridium core rounds tore through their armor and blasted them off their perches.

Linvana retreated as the minotaurs in the back began firing their torch hammers. Her armor could withstand several bolts from the goblins' slap rifles; the heavy Void blasts would rip her apart in moments.

The building shook as the Vex artillery impacted the walls. It wouldn't have long before the goblins advanced on her position and forced her to retreat.

She crossed the room and punched the door. The metal panels didn't budge. She hit it again and felt them give a little. One more blow, and the corroded panels separated. Linvana slipped her fingers in the gap and pried them apart. She grabbed her machine gun and slid through.

The rain was coming down in buckets now, so thick it made it hard to see across the clearing. This side of the courtyard gave her a better view of the Vex ruins. She could make out the form of a towering Vex hydra in the back, floating beneath a worn stone arch.

Linvana knelt and trained her gun on the nearest minotaur. She pulled the trigger and let the weapon sing. A stream of bullets hit the minotaur like a meteors and tore through its shimmering energy shield like it wasn't even there. The machine was down before it even realized it was in danger.

The rest of the Vex pivoted to meet the surprise attack and started firing. A deep metallic roar shook the courtyard as the hydra started advancing. Linvana dove behind the nearest pillar. The stone vibrated as the minotaurs and hydra pounded the ground with an apocalyptic hail of Void slugs.

Linvana grimaced. A grenade would be really useful right about now. She held out her hand, but only managed to summon a weak crackle. She could feel the flow of the Arc shy away from her. _Damnit_.

She peaked around the edge of pillar and nearly got her head taken off by a hail of plasma. No, a grenade wouldn't cut it, not with that hydra in the back. She needed a Fist of Havoc.

 _If I can't summon a simple grenade, then how will I be able to channel a Fist of Havoc?_ she pondered.

A pair of goblins rounded the corner. She blasted them to scrap.

If she stayed put, the goblins and harpies would keep advancing and flush her out. The minotaurs and hydra would cut her down in an instant. She needed to make a move now, while she still could.

Linvana closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of the Void canons. They fired in bursts, and would need to recharge eventually. When they did, there would be an opening.

Now! Linvana took off. She wove her way through the ruins, using them as cover. The Vex tracked her as she ran, but most of their shots struck the stone. As she plunged deeper between the pillars, she started to loop back towards the hydra.

She reached for the Arc as she ran. It refused to come. She could _feel_ it fighting her. She didn't trust it, and it didn't trust her either.

She tossed her machine gun aside and focused on summoning the storm. The Arc ebbed and flowed beneath the surface, turbulent and chaotic. Every time she tried to reach in and draw from it, it pushed her away. "Come on!" Linvana shouted.

Linvana burst from the cover of the ruins, ten feet behind the hydra.

 _No_.

The Arc snapped away and retreated. Permanently. A void bolt detonated five feet in front of her. The blast disintegrated her boot and seared through the flesh of her leg. Linvana fell to her knees and screamed.

In a moment of pure desperation and pain, she snatched the Arc in her mind and pulled with all her strength.

The dam broke, and energy tore through her with impossible furor. Lightning exploded from her body in all directions. It melted metal and disintegrated Vex and stone alike.

The Arc kept coming. Far, far more than her body could ever handle. Linvana screamed again as her limbs combusted from the inside out. For a moment, she held the impression of something tearing asunder. Then the darkness came, and all was nothing


	2. Part 2

Breath.

Air returned to Linvana's lungs. She inhaled and let the oxygen fill her chest. Rich, sweet, life-giving oxygen.

She groaned. Her body felt like a Cabal legion had used it as a dance pad. She slowly pried her eyes open.

Thick, lazy gray clouds drifted past her vision. A fat raindrop splattered against her visor. It beaded up and slowly rolled down the side.

Linvana groaned again and sat up. Her body protested with creaks of pain.

Why was she lying in the center of a giant, blackened crater, with the shattered remains of Vex structures scattered around the rim?

Oh right. Giant Arc explosion. She had been the bomb.

The Arc. She had called upon it, and it had fought her. The abilities she had known for her entire life had refused to work. And then they tried to kill her.

 _Don't be ridiculous. The Arc is a force of nature. It can't want to kill you._

"You're back," Ghost said, floating above, "That one was ugly. I had to rebuild your entire body. Although, you _did_ manage to destroy the entire squadron in the process…"

"Guardian," a voice crackled in her ear, "Guardian, are you there? What happened?"

Zavala. The mission. Find the out how the Sunbreakers had somehow hacked Vex technology. Linvana swallowed. She reached for the source of Arc inside. It wasn't there. A knot of nausea clutched her stomach. Her powers were gone.

"Give me a minute sir, I think my comms are damaged," Linvana stammered. She clicked off her earpiece and stood. A wave of dizziness washed over her. No powers meant she wasn't a Guardian. If she wasn't a Guardian…

Her heart hammered in her chest. Her breathing was fast and shallow. Shock. She was in shock. She scrambled up the side of the crater. Her foot slipped as she reached the top. She slumped against a broken pillar, too weak to get up. Ghost trailed after her, looking rather confused.

Her armor pressed in against her chest. The armor of a Titan, of a defender of the City. The armor of a Guardian. She didn't deserve it.

Linvana yanked her helmet off and tossed it into the crater. She sucked in a long, deep breath of fresh air, and then another, and then another, until her chest loosened, and her heart finally slowed. The thick, wet, Venusian air, laden with the stench of ozone and mud, had never felt so good. She ran a hand through her mop of scarlet hair and leaned her head against the stone.

"What is happening to me?" she whispered.

"I don't understand," Ghost said, floating in front of her, "I completely rebuilt your armor. Your comms are working just fine. Why did you-"

"Ghost, I need a minute."

"…Oh. I see." The little orb flew over to her and settled near her shoulder.

"The Light is gone, Ghost. I lost it. I lost my abilities," Linvana mumbled after a moment, "The Traveler decided I wasn't worthy after all."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Ghost replied, "I was only able to bring you back because your body is naturally attuned to the Light. It's still in there somewhere. You just need to give it some time. You'll be fine. I'm…sure of it."

Linvana shook her head. Ghost was still a terrible liar.

"No, it's not going to be fine. I felt the Arc leave me as I…exploded. If I try using it again, well, if this was any indication-" She waved her hand at the surrounding destruction. "-it will kill both of us. Permanently."

"That's a…cheerful thought."

They were both silent for a moment.

"On the bright side, at least you still have me," Ghost said.

She allowed herself a wan smile. "I suppose I do, Little Light." She leaned her head against his shell. "You're a good friend Ghost."

"Well, I sort of have to be, don't I? No matter happens to your powers, we're stuck with each other, bound together by the Light, until the day we die…Actually, when I say it like that, it's kind of like we're married."

Linvana chuckled. "Oh Ghost, have no idea." She sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Ghost," she said after a minute, "I just realized something. I don't know your name."

"My name?"

"Yeah, your real name. I know it's not just 'Ghost.' The other Ghosts have names. What's yours?"

"Well, it's not exactly a good name. I would prefer just 'Ghost.'"

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Alright, but you have to promise not to make fun of me."

"I promise."

"Okay. My real name is…North Star."

"North Star?"

"Yep. I told you it was embarrassing."

"I don't think it's embarrassing. I actually kind of like it. My own little guiding light."

"But, it's not majestic, or inspiring, like Erytheia or Ajax."

"There are plenty of ways to be inspiring. Tell you what. I'll call you Polaris, and you can always be there to guide me."

The Ghost frowned. "That's actually…I like that. Deal. But, do me a favor. Don't tell the other Ghosts my real name."

"I won't," Linvana said, smiling.

Polaris floated off her shoulder and hovered in front of her. "So uh, what now?"

Linvana's good mood evaporated.

"Nothing, Polaris. We go home. I turn in my gun and equipment to Zavala, so he can give them to another Guardian. Find a job in the City, and just be the normal person that I am now. I'm sure New Monarchy would take me as a security officer. If not, I can get a job at one of the foundries. My days as a Guardian, are over."

Polaris was silent for a beat. "So that's it then? You're just going to give up? After all we've done? You've killed _gods_ Linvana, and you're going to let _this_ stop you?"

"What else can I do?"

"Well, you said the Arc rejected you. There are other forms of Light."

"No. I'm not touching the Void. You remember what happened last time."

"I'm not talking about becoming a becoming a Defender."

She frowned. "…Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Polaris nodded.

Linvana laughed. "You want me to become a Sunbreaker. Are you aware how ridiculous that is? Titans can't summon a Solar source on their own. To become a Sunbreaker, I would have to somehow find them, which won't happen since they already vanished. And even then, how do you know they will give me their powers? They haven't had contact with the City in years, and you think they'll just welcome me with open arms? And, by some cosmic miracle, we find them, and they accept me, what if the Solar Light refuses me as well? I've already been rejected by the Arc and Void. I'm pretty sure at this point the problem is ME!"

Linvana slowly released her breath. "I'm sorry Polaris, I didn't mean to shout."

The Ghost blinked. "You're not going to at least try? After all we've been through? I don't care if you've given up on yourself, but _I_ haven't. You're _my_ Guardian, and there's no way you're going down with a fight."

"No. I'm not going to risk failing again."

"That's just being selfish. _Please_ , Linvana. I'm begging you. You owe it to yourself to see this through. You owe it to me."

Linvana closed her eyes. A warm tear slid down her cheek. "Why me? Why did you choose me, a random pile of bones at the top of a cliff, to be your warrior? What made you think I would be so special?"

"I don't know," Polaris replied, "I don't know as much as you think. All of this is just as confusing to me as it is to you. I…I was born the moment the Traveler died, as everything collapsed around us. Before that day, there had never been a Ghost. There had never been a Guardian. I don't know much about the Traveler, but I know it made me to bring _you_ back."

The Ghost drifted away and turned his gaze towards the darkening sky. "I spent a really, _really_ long time searching for you. The Cosmodrome? Not the first place I looked. As I saw the other Ghosts find their Guardians, and the centuries went by, I wondered if I would ever find you."

Polaris turned back so his single blue eye was staring straight at Linvana. "And then, I did. Whoever you are, whoever you were, I was meant to find you Linvana. I didn't _choose_ you over anyone else. I was always meant to be _your_ Ghost. Don't let my search have been in vain."

Linvana sighed and met Polaris's eye. So earnest, so optimistic. "I'll do it," she said, resigning herself, "But only this last time. If it doesn't pan out, you'll let me have peace. I think I've done enough to deserve that."

"Deal," Polaris said without hesitating.

Linvana picked herself up and climbed to her feet. Her hands trembled. Her feet were unsteady. She was a mess. Well, that's just the way it would have to be. She retrieved her helmet, slipped it on, and activated the comms.

"Captain, you're back," Zavala said, "I was beginning to think something had happened."

"I uh…took some damage to my armor," Linvana replied, "I just needed my Ghost to repair it." She cringed at the lie.

"If you're quite finished, we need to figure out how the Sunbreakers are co-opting Vex technology. This could be very significant."

"I'm on it sir." Linvana walked deeper into the ruins, to the transfer gate at the very back, and the conflux that powered it. The filaments and ribbons of light bend and folded in on each other, weaving a bewildering spire that hummed with alien power. Polaris left her side and began scanning the structure.

"Well, the gate's offline…" he said, "Looks like the Vex shut down this branch of the Nexus to try to contain the Subreakers' breach. They - Oh wow. The Subreakers rerouted this entire system. Zavala, this gate has been redirected to connect to a location on Mercury. I have the coordinates."

"Then plot a course," Zavala replied, "Find their forge, Captain. We need the to know how they did this, and if we hope to survive Oryx, we need the flame they hold."

"Yes sir," Linvana said, a faint spark of hope returning. "Polaris, bring the ship around."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Linvana sat in the cockpit of her worn and battered jumpship. She let Polaris take the controls as they climbed through the thick atmosphere and settled into low orbit.

"The Vex transformed Mercury into a machine during the Collapse," Polaris said, "It's been abandoned for centuries, but I guess the Sunbreakers have been hiding out there all along. This should be plenty of fun."

Linvana watched as Venus shrank away on the view-screen. Once they were out of the gravity well, Polaris punched the warp drive. The stars outside dissolved into an incoherent blur as the ship lurched towards the Sun, and the rocky planet it held in its embrace.

She switched the view-screens off and spun to face the cabin of her ship. Cabin was a generous term, as the little space was barely bigger than the cockpit itself. The low ceiling was just tall enough for her to stand up without bending. A narrow cot occupied the left side, and the right side held a small toilet and sink, and a few crates of supplies. She had slept in here at least as often as she had in her quarters back at the Tower. It felt like home. If the Sunbreakers refused to help her, or worse yet, the Solar didn't accept her, she knew she would give the craft to a young new Guardian, so they could use it to travel between worlds and fight the City's enemies.

"It will take us a few hours to get there," Polaris said, "You should probably get some rest."

Linvana nodded. After everything…she could definitely use a nap. She set her helmet and rifle down on a crate, and began removing the rest of her armor.

"Captain," Zavala said, his voice resounding through the interior speakers, "There's something I need to tell you. I assume you know of the Warlock Osiris?"

"He was the Warlock Vanguard before Ikora, I think," Linvana replied, "He was also the Vanguard Commander, but he left the City after the Battle of Twilight Gap. Rumored he had a falling-out with the Speaker."

"He didn't just have a falling-out, the Speaker exiled him," Zavala said, "He grew obsessed with the Vex, towards the end. He claimed he was close to actually understanding them. He devoted incredible resources towards studying the machines. Resources that were need for defense of the City. He put us all at risk, and the Speaker refused to let it continue.

"Osiris, he brokered a contract between the Sunbreakers and the City. It's terms, however, were unacceptable to me. I refused to accept the contract, and now the Sunbreakers hate the Vanguard. They…" Zavala hesitated. "They hate me."

"So you want me to make amends. I'll give it my best shot, but don't count on it, sir," Linvana replied.

"That's not the point, Captain. When Osiris left, he was last seen traveling towards Mercury. The Sunbreakers have always had a tendency to take up with leaders they don't understand. Leaders they shouldn't trust. Osiris has evidently maintained contact with them in his exile. He somehow figured out how to infiltrate Vex creations, and shared that knowledge with them. Be careful with the Sunbreakers, Guardian. With Osiris involved, anything is possible. Find them, try to gain their alliance, but approach the situation with caution. I don't need you to pay for mistakes I made."

"I understand sir."

"Then good luck out there Guardian, and may the Traveler be with you. Zavala out." The connection terminated, and the only sound was the warm hum of the engines.

Linvana kicked off her boots and stretched out on the cot. Zavala wanted her to find the Sunbreakers and convince them to help the City, but she had something else she needed from them. A source of Solar Light.

Linvana needed to become a Sunbreaker.

* * *

Linvana woke up as her ship lurched out of warp. She slipped into the cockpit and switched on the main view-screen. The image flared white, then the optics adjusted and a barren, gray world came into focus, silhouetted against the bloated sun. Mercury, the burning planet.

Polaris dropped the ship into low orbit and set a course for the coordinates pulled from the Vex conflux. She glanced at the nav-monitor. The location put them right on the edge of the night side, in the band to twilight. She geared up as they descended.

"That's…interesting," Polaris said, "Zavala, we're approaching the location of the gate, but the area is blanketed in divergent electric interference. We're going to have to set down a few miles from the coordinates, and once we're in, we won't be able to get a signal through to you. We'll be dark."

"Understood. Be careful out there Guardian, and watch your back. Good luck," the Commander replied.

"Thank you sir. Linvana out."

The ship swung down in a low approach across the surface. Linvana caught glimpses of twisting structures, haphazard arrangements of stone and metal that formed a pattern only the Vex understood. Constructs that hung from the sky in places, defying the very laws of reason and physics.

Between the stacks of metal and rock stretched huge expanses of sand and stone. Broken outcrops sat blasted by the sun and scoured by the thin Mercurial winds. Linvana had fought dozens of Crucible matches on Mercury, yet every time she visited it, the utter desolation amazed her.

A broad hill came into view on the horizon, dark against the burning sun. Lines of light emanated from the top, connecting the Vex structure there to the surrounding spires, like spokes of a wheel. A node of some sort, a center for the vast, planet spanning machine.

"That's where we're headed, and this is as close as we can get without risking crashing," Polaris said, "Ready for transmat?"

"Ready," Linvana replied. The ship dissolved around her and was replaced by a landscape of sweeping dunes and blocky Vex creations. She immediately felt the incredible heat, even through her armor. The jumpship shot past overhead and pulled away, ascending back to orbit.

Linvana stood atop the dune for a moment, completely and utterly alone in the burning landscape. Her destination sat atop the distant mount, and the low sun beat against the ground, far larger than should have been possible. Here, amongst the pale sand and the spires of glass, she would finally have an answer.

She slung her auto-rifle over her shoulder and started walking.

* * *

"There's a rumor going around," Polaris said, "The Vanguard are considering opening up this place for patrol. I don't see why not, really. The Vex all but abandoned it after they did…this." If the Ghost had arms, he probably would have waved them at the blocky spires that dotted the landscape. "We could learn so much from studying their creations."

"That makes sense," Linvana replied, "Shaxx and his Redjacks already keep a half-dozen Crucible arenas here." She frowned as she crested the sandy ridge. "This place…We're in an unexplored sector, but I feel like I've seen it before."

"You're right. It does looks oddly familiar, and not just the usual 'industrial Vex wasteland' kind of way."

Linvana continued climbing. The hill was deceptively tall. She wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, or the result of the Vex's reality warping influence. The rolling plains shimmered in the sun behind her. The back side of the escarpment had proved too sheer to climb, so she had been forced to circle around to the sunward side.

As she got closer to the top, she began to notice signs of habitation. A tattered rag of cloth blown between two blocks. A spent ammo synthesis half buried in the sand. Scratches from bullets that had struck the resilient Vex metal. Someone had set up camp nearby, and seemed to have stayed there for a while.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place," Polaris noted as Linvana approached a broad, flat crater. The circular bowl was coated with a layer of wavy glass. Its size matched the blasts she had seen on Venus. The Sunbreakers had used their powers here.

Linvana continued past. She couldn't be more than a few hundred yards from the top now. The ground started to level out. There were several more glass circles in the clearing. A pile of bullet casings was scattered behind a low slab. Someone had used it for cover.

"There was another battle here," Linvana said, "I'm guessing the Vex followed them through the gate, but…do you notice something?"

"If there was a fight," Polaris said, "Then where are the bodies?"

"Exactly. Not a single Vex corpse. Or a Sunbreaker, for that matter."

The path upward was blocked by a broad stone buttress. Linvana circled around it, and top of the mountain finally came into view.

"Hold on, this is-"

"The Burning Shrine!" Polaris cut in, "That's why everything looks familiar! It's the Burning Shrine, except everything is an exact mirror image." The Ghost appeared next to her shoulder. "Actually, come to think of it, the Crucible arena is on the _exact_ other side of the planet from our current location. I wonder what that means…"

Polaris trailed off as Linvana trudged across the clearing in front of the structure. The broad construction had three lopsided entrances. Braziers burned in sheltered alcoves at the bases of the pillars. All in all, it was an exact copy of the Burning Shrine, with one major difference; a large circular dais sat in front of the middle entrance, nestled between the outlying slabs. The stone of the dais was smoother than the surrounding rock, and a geometric pattern of groves crisscrossed the surface.

"Where is everyone?" Polaris wondered. The entire mountaintop was hauntingly quiet, with only the faint rasp of the wind across the sand. Linvana shivered despite the heat.

Linvana approached the left entrance. The place clearly had been lived in. An empty tent stood to the side. The sand around it was covered with recent footprints. They were sheltered from the wind, but couldn't be more than a day old.

There were more signs of recent use inside. A stack of empty munitions crates sat on one corner. An empty cup sat on one stack, and another had been knocked over. They left in a hurry then. A heavy tarp hung on the side of the doorway at the back. It had apparently been used to separate the rooms, but it hadn't been drawn back over the opening. The chamber beyond looked to be an officer's room. A cot, stripped of its mattress, was wedged in an alcove to the side, and a bare steel table sat against the far wall. Above it hung a Director-style map of the solar system. There were pins near Mercury, Venus, Mars, and…Uranus? Why would the Sunbreakers be interested in the outer Jovians?

Linvana tore herself away from the map and continued her search. She followed the system of chambers all the way to the back, but found nothing but empty supply containers. She walked back out into the burning sunlight. The Sunbreakers had obviously set up a base of operations here, but left after they returned from Venus. That was hours ago. They were long gone by now.

She walked across the front of the shrine, feeling strangely empty. Not sad, not angry, just…empty. Her last chance at recovering her Light was gone. She was officially no longer a Guardian. She just…was.

"Well Polaris," she said aloud, "We tried. They're in the wind by now. They could be anywhere." She sat down on the edge of the dais. "We've had a pretty good run. Took out the Devil's high servitor, killed a Hive god. I should be grateful for the chance-"

"Well this is a surprise," an imperious female voice boomed across the clearing, "We do not know you Guardian, but if you found us, you are worthy of our time."

Reflexes kicked in, and faster than she could think, Linvana was on her feet and had her sidearm in her hands. "Who are you? Show yourself!" she called.

"I am Ouros, Third Empyreal Magistrate of the Sunbreakers," the voice replied "You have come to test your Light in our forge, to claim the fire as your own."

"What? How do you know…" Linvana spun in confusion, searching for the source of the voice.

"Your don't have a source of Arc or Void within you. It's plain to see, if you know how to look," Ouros said, "It's only natural to assume you have come to fill the hole with the Solar."

"What you are saying is true," Linvana said, "I would request that you allow me to learn the ways of the Sunbreakers, but -" She swallowed "- that is not the reason I came. I am here to seek an alliance with your order. Oryx, the God-King of the Hive has come to conquer our system, and if Humanity is to survive, we need your help."

Ouros laughed. "Did Zavala send you then? I should have known that stunt would get his attention. We do not answer to his will, and we never will. However, you have come far to find us, and it would be wrong to leave such an effort unrewarded. I will grant you the fire you seek, Titan, if the process doesn't break you. _Prove_ you are one with the Light. We abandoned this Forge when it was compromised, but your Ghost can reignite it."

"Yes ma'am," Polaris said. "Linvana," he continued in a hushed tone, "Ouros is a legend. If even half the stories are-"

"Yes Polaris, I know Ouros is," Linvana snapped. She lowered her gun and stepped up to the main entrance of the complex. The central corridor extended deep into the structure. Stacks of blocks topped with Vex machinery stood at regular intervals, not unlike a line of lenses in a telescope.

"Ghost, I can't get a read on her. Where is she?" Linvana muttered as she walked.

"Well, I'm picking up low levels of current throughout the area. They're hard to pick out through the interference. There are no other life signs though. She must be using a remote surveillance system."

Linvana grunted in reply. A tangle of emotions twisted in her stomach. She was actually doing this. The Sunbreakers had agreed to help her. Hell, Ouros of legend had spoken to her. She was equal parts nervous, excited, and downright terrified. She had a chance, but it was her last one.

She reached the end of the hall. A large metal spire sat in the middle. Polaris flew out and began probing the workings with a beam of light. "Interesting," the Ghost said, "This technology is definitely Vex, but its been heavily modified and rewired. It's set up specifically so that only a Ghost can access it…"

Something heavy clicked within the tangle of wire, and the spire began to hum. A beam of white light shot from the top and threaded the line of pillars.

"Power's on," Polaris said, "but I think something's out of alignment. Let's head back out."

Linvana followed the ray back to the entrance of the forge. It stopped at the final pillar. Polaris flew up to the top of the column and started working. A moment later, the light bent through the metal construct and connected to the base of the dais. The grooves of the dais lit up, and a flame kindled in the center.

Slowly, she stepped onto the dais and approached the forge. The flames in the center swirled and wove together. They condensed to a single bright point. A burning spark of golden Solar Light.

"In the shadows of the Light that gave birth to the ancients," Ouros said, her voice echoing off the stones, "use the Forge. Fire born of man, fire of Light. Ask yourself Guardian, what power do you seek from the forge? Can you bring light to where only Darkness survives?"

Linvana shuddered. She got the impression she was participating in a ritual very few had the privilege of witnessing.

"This spark," Ouros continued, "the source of burning flame, will ignite your fire. The power of the Sun is the most difficult for a Titan to wield. To take it up, to call on its might, you must be absolutely certain of yourself, Guardian. There must be no doubts in your mind. Only then will you be ready."

"And what happens if I'm not ready?" Linvana asked.

"Then the fire will burn away your bond with the Light, and you will die your final death."

Linvana hesitated. She was definitely not certain of herself. She never really had been, when she thought about it. Since the day she was reborn, she had felt like something was missing. She didn't quite fit. The others looked to her for guidance, called her captain, but deep down, she wondered what gave her the right. Why was she leading when she didn't even know what she was doing? Where did she fit in this vast puzzle?

If she took the Solar and it rejected her, it would kill her. Finish the job the Arc started. But if she left now, if she turned away, would she really be able to accept a normal life? Was that what her place really was? No illusions of grandeur, no threat of failure. No real purpose?

If she didn't try, if she didn't take the spark, then that was it. She'd be forgotten, and become a fraud Guardian who refused the call. Someone who didn't have the courage to do everything she could to protect those who couldn't. She would be a failure who never stood for anything.

No.

She was a Guardian. She didn't let anything stop her, especially not the fear of death.

Linvana reached out and seized the spark.

Pain shot up her arm. She screamed as fire tore through her veins and seared her bones. Her hand burst into flame in front of her, but her body refused to pull back. The burning spread across her back and down her spine. She fell to her knees as it reached her legs. The spark burned in front of her face, filling her vision, blinding her. The flames dug deeper into her chest, as the pain became absolute.

Deep, deep inside her, in the place only her fears dwelled, a flame kindled.

The warmth pushed outward in all directions and spread down her limbs. The pain evaporated like fog in the morning sun.

Linvana groaned and staggered to her feet. Something heavy dragged her arm down. She shook it and tried to dislodge the weight. A moment later, her addled brain realized what she was seeing.

A lustrous silver hammer sat in her hand, with a square face and a spike fashioned in the likeness of a bird of prey. The elegantly wrought metal glowed golden from within. The weapon wasn't large, no more than a foot and a half long, yet it had an immense weight to it. The way it sat in her hand was _right_.

Linvana gave the hammer a test swing. Golden embers trailed behind it

"Congratulations Guardian," Ouros said "The Solar has accepted you. The Hammer of Sol is now yours. Use it - Oh my. It would seem your enemies followed you. Prepare yourself."

"So we're going to get attacked then," Ghost sighed, "Here we go."

The air around the dais shimmered. Gray clouds condensed across the landscape. Lightning crackled through the mist as dozens, hundreds of skeletal shapes took form. An entire legion of Vex, their merciless red eyes fixed on her.

Something to fight, to test her new powers. That she could do.

With a shout, Linvana threw herself at the Vex. She smashed aside ranks of them with the hammer and burnt them to ash with the flames. The Light hummed within her, guiding her like an unseen hand. The fire smoldered with a sense peace the storm had never given her.

The Vex had far superior numbers, but they never stood a chance against the newly forged Sunbreaker. They fired their weapons, but the shots burned away in the intense heat radiating off her body. She threw her hammer at the goblins beyond her reach, and instantly summoned another to her side. The world around her ignited in a beautiful symphony of fire and light.

She fought for hours. She fought through the shrine and across slope before it. She fought long after any other warrior would have dropped from exhaustion, under the gaze of the unmoving sun.

Finally, the last goblin burned away, and no more appeared to take its place. Linvana released her hammer. It evaporated, and the warmth within her faded. She knew at once she would never channel a surge of Light like that again.

A blanket of exhaustion settled over her. She swayed and laid her hand on the nearest slab for support. The firestorm she wrought had fused the entire slope into glass, and blackened and cracked the stone of the Vex pillars.

"A Sunbreaker does not bow to any will but the Light," Ouros said, "Welcome guardian. Wield the fury of the fire with honor. Farewell."

"Wait," Linvana shouted, "Come with me. Come back to the City. Help us fight the Darkness!"

Ouros sighed. "Ah Guardian, the things you do not understand. There is no place in the City for us. There never was. Zavala knew this when he sent you to find us. He could never truly expect you persuade us to return. You hold our power now, and that is enough. Return to your City, and wield it well. But know this; should you ever chose to follow the errant path, there will always be place for you among us. Goodbye, Guardian."

The unseen voice went silent, and Linvana was left alone with the shimmering glass and the warming breeze.

"Well, that's it," Polaris said. He materialized by her shoulder. "The power to the forge has been completely cut off. The surveillance system too. I'm not sure I'll be able to restart it."

"I don't think we're meant to," Linvana said. She pushed off of the slab and started walking down the rippling field of glass. She could feel a lingering flame burning deep within her chest.

"So what now?" Polaris asked.

"Now, we go home."

* * *

The Hall of Guardians was exactly the same as it was before, but Linvana entered it new woman.

Shaxx watched her as she walked past, arms folded across his chest. She had been embarrassed after her failure in front of him, but not any more. Now she strode with pride.

Zavala looked up as she entered, a frown on his face. His expression relaxed when he saw her.

"Captain, good to have you back. Did you find the Sunbreakers? Will they help us?"

Linvana answered by summoning the Solar Light. The golden tendrils curled around her arm and snapped into the shape of the hammer with a loud metallic _clang_.

Ikora glanced up at the sound. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Linvana. Cayde glanced in her direction with a frown, then leaned down against the table, distractedly muttering something to himself.

Zavala though, wasn't surprised. He smiled with a warm glow of pride and satisfaction. "Well Guardian, I shouldn't be surprised. You've always made the impossible seem easy. With regards to Sunbreakers themselves; have they made agreed to return to the City?"

"No," Linvana said, a hint of anger in her voice, "And you knew they wouldn't ever respond to a plea for help." She let the hammer dissipate. "Why did you send me to find them?"

"Shaxx asked me for help," Zavala said, "He showed me what happened in the Crucible. He saw a problem with one of his best fighters, and came to me for a solution. I sent you to find the Sunbreakers because I need you Linvana. I need you at full capacity, and I realized the Solar Light might be your only option. It was a risk that paid off."

"So why didn't you just tell me?" Linvana prodded. She took a deep breath and forced her anger down. "Why did you lie to me?"

Zavala deflated at the accusation. His shoulders sagged, and he rested his forehead on his hand. There seemed to be more lines on his face than Linvana remembered. She immediately regretted being so blunt.

"Guardians are independent. You don't like hearing it, but you all have a certain distrust of authority. Deep down, you absolutely hate being told what to do. It took me a long time to learn to listen to others. It's a skill you have yet to fully embrace. Tell me Captain, if I had sent you out there with orders to take on a new element, if I had commanded you to confront your insecurities, would you have listened? I apologize for deceiving you, but I couldn't afford to risk the chance of losing you and your expertise, _especially_ not now."

Linvana bit her lip. He had a point. She hadn't even told him she had been having problems with her powers. She called him her Commander, but that was a two-way relationship. They had to trust each other, and she hadn't. "I don't know what I would have done sir, but don't ever lie to me again."

"Understood," Zavala replied, "If it's any consolation, you did uncover something quite valuable. The Sunbreakers' control of Vex technology is unprecedented. We will need to investigate it further, but right now, we do not have the time or resources.

"Before you leave, there's something that I want you to have." Zavala retrieved a small box from underneath the table and presented it to Linvana. "It's been sitting in my vault so long, I forgot I even had it. I think it would be more appropriate for you to wear it now."

Linvana opened the box. Inside was a folded strip of golden cloth. She pulled it out and spread on the table. The long rectangle was emblazoned with a white hammer wreathed in stylized flames. A Sunbreaker's Mark.

"Thank you," Linvana said. She unclasped her Mark of the Pilgrim Guard and replaced it with the Sunbreaker Mark. The sash hung down past her knee, and matched her golden-yellow armor.

Across the table, Cayde stood up and grinned. "Hey Zavala, wanna know what a transmatt zone on the Dreadnaught looks like?"

Zavala snapped his attention to Cayde. "What? You landed a Guardian on the Dreadnaught without authorization?"

"Oh, right," Cayde replied, his face an expression of pure innocence. "Can I have authorization?"

"We'll discuss it later," Zavala growled, "Who did you send?"

"Mariel-3 _volunteered_ to make a landing on the Dreadnaught," Cayde replied.

"Mariel?" Linvana demanded, "Why is my Nightstalker on the Hive capital ship?"

Cayde motioned for his Ghost to come forward. It projected a telemetry feed, apparently taken from a Guardian's helmet. The shaking scene showed a furious battle between Cabal and Hive forces amongst a twisted heap of wreckage. Smoke filled the air, and the scarred hull of a Cabal ship loomed in the background.

As they watched, the doors on the Cabal ship opened, and a lumbering hover tank emerged. The rail gun mounted on top spun around and fired. A huge explosion ripped through the Hive ranks.

"Guardian," Zavala said into his coms, "Take care of that tank, or the transmat zone won't matter." The commander motioned for Linvana to step closer.

"Well captain," he said, "You told me you want a shot at Oryx. Cayde apparently managed to sneak your teammate onto the Dreadnaught, and disable its weapon. She's establishing a beachhead as we speak. This is your shot. Take the fight to Oryx, and show him the City bows to no one."


End file.
